Reckless Love and Risky Moves
by Ridley C. James
Summary: Tag for Episode 2:19 Benjamin Franklin & Grey Duffle. Mac and Riley contemplate following through on Riley's threat to obliterate Dawn. Jack explains to Mac why that isn't necessary in his completely Jack way. Hamburgers, a drugged director, and one short-lived basketball game ensue.


Risky Love and Reckless Moves

By: Ridley

A/N: Tag for Episode 2:19 Benjamin Franklin + Grey Duffle. There are slight spoilers. Typically I am never a fan of episodes that break Mac and Jack up, but aside from that, I really liked this episode for the most part. I really like Dawn, aside from Sarah she is my favorite pairing for Jack. So there was that added plus. I liked Matty, and I loved Jack being Jack in a way that totally didn't paint him as stupid but having a huge heart. But I ESPECIALLY loved us finally seeing a slightly different side of Mac where he was being protective of his partner and Riley was pretty awesome, so I just wanted to explore that a little more. It's been so long since I've wanted to write a tag, so I hope you enjoy. Thanks to Mary who kept me in check!

RcJ

"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us." –C.S. Lewis

Angus MacGyver lay on his bed dressed in sweats and a tee, the last late day rays of Los Angeles sunshine streaming through his windows. He watched the basketball he'd just tossed towards the ceiling as it seemed to hang suspended in the air for a brief moment as if it could defy the pull of gravity before it fell victim to Newton's law and plummeted back towards him where he caught it and tossed it once more.

"So?" He asked, repeating the tossing of the ball instead of looking at Riley who was sitting cross-legged beside him in the middle of the bed, her ever-present rig resting on her lap. He didn't even need to look to know she was staring at the screen, hands hesitating over the keyboard. "What's the plan, Riles?"

"Simple. A couple of keystrokes and her goose is cooked."

Mac caught the ball, gripping the well-worn leather for a moment before bringing it behind his head to use as a pillow. Occasional laughter, Bozer's or Jack's drifted in through the open window. Beyond said window it was the makings of a perfect Friday evening. A warm breeze, a skyline showy with color promised a star-studded show later. His roommate was grilling a feast for Matty, who'd been released from the hospital earlier that day. Jack had insisted they make a big deal about it, inviting Jill and a few others from Phoenix to join, always ready to celebrate any occasion when as his partner would put it their team had given _The Odds_ the proverbial finger.

"It's tempting." Mac turned his head slightly, watching Riley's profile. She was staring at the screen, but had brought a hand to her mouth, thoughtfully chewing the cuticle of one perfectly manicured nail for a moment before placing it tentatively back on the computer. When her dark eyes met his, the storm of emotion was very familiar. Mac was certain they were experiencing a very similar struggle.

"Jack would never have to know." She looked almost guilty as they both heard the man in question's voice, loud and boisterous as he recounted him taking out the balloons on their getaway vehicle, the one Mac had accidentally stranded them in 10,000 feet above the beautiful European countryside. Not that Mac had actually known what the scenery had been like as he'd spent most of the experience with his eyes squeezed shut trying not to have a full blown panic attack but Jack had gone into great detail about what they were floating over once they'd started a descent thanks to his carnival-like shooting game. Jack of course saw his part in the matter as both daring act of heroism and rare stroke of genius improvisation, a fact he was no doubt currently embellishing to a captive audience.

"She could tell him." Mac's stomach twisted a bit at the thought. Bozer might have had a point about Mac being a professional liar, but deception where his partner was concerned was not something that came naturally. In fact it went against the grain, rubbing at Mac's rare need to be completely honest when it came to Jack. He'd broken that trust a few times in the past, when it concerned Nikki or his father, but he didn't relish a repeat in putting a dark mark on the relationship scorecard with his best friend.

"Have you not been listening?" Riley actually punched Mac in the leg, painfully pulling him from his thoughts. It was proof tensions were running high. "If we do this, she won't be able to tell him, Mac. I'm not playing here. Dawn will be gone. For good." She folded her arms, looking only slightly contrite when Mac rubbed his smarting thigh. "I mean…that's what we want, right? We agreed."

"We agreed." Mac sat up, grabbing the basketball before he scooted across the bed to rest his back against the headboard. It put just enough distance between him and Riley so that he was out of her reach in case she was overcome with another uncharacteristic outburst of physical violence. He still had a bruise on his shoulder from their initial discussion about Dawn and the con artist's latest disappearance. Mac was once more reminded that crossing Riley Davis was not a good idea.

"But you're having second thoughts?" Riley tilted her head, a frown furrowing her brow. She lowered her voice, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "No one will be able to trace anything back to us. It will be like she never existed."

"I'm not having second thoughts about making sure she pays for what she did." Mac surprised himself by meaning every word he'd said. Revenge wasn't something he typically sought for himself, minus that moment in middle school when he'd stuck it to the bullies who'd been tormenting him for years by destroying their football field, but he had no qualms about an eye for eye philosophy when it came to the people he loved. Dawn, whether she'd meant to or not, had hurt Jack and Mac had no intention of letting her get away with it. Even pacifists had their thresholds. Jack was most definitely Mac's.

"Then we're doing this?" Riley's hands went back to hover over the keyboard, posed for the strike. Despite the glint in her eye, Mac also noticed her bottom lip was effectively caught between her teeth-a telling sign that she, like him, wasn't completely sold on their course of action.

"She did give the money to a children's home," Mac offered, lamely. Riley had found the modern day orphanage when she'd done a thorough inquiry into Dawn's past during their search for her. A flag had gone up when further investigation had revealed a very large recent deposit in the non-profit organization's bank account. When Mac and Jack had visited the director of the home, she'd given them the note found with the money. Jack, touched by Dawn's Robin Hood move, had gone all Little John and proposed they erase their paper trail and let the kids keep the gift, but even Mac, who had a bit of a Merrie Men complex himself, knew that wasn't the right answer. The money wasn't Dawn's to give, and two wrongs didn't make a right, even if the act looked more than right on the surface. As a compromise Matty went above and beyond, arranging a generous ten percent finder's fee for the home.

"So her childhood wasn't all puppies and cupcakes." Riley folded her arms over her chest, a move that told Mac her internal armor was weakening just a bit and she was trying to reinforce her tough defenses by exterior means. She looked at Mac, her gaze once more reflecting her turmoil. "You and I didn't exactly strike the lottery in the happy home department either, Mac, but you don't see us going around using people and hurting others just because life can be a bit of a cold-hearted bitch. Kids get a raw deal every day. It's not a pass to becoming a sociopathic liar and thief."

"I'm not saying it is, but just pointing out that we were luckier than Dawn." Mac might have leaned toward black and white facts and logic nine times out of ten, a commonality that he and Riley shared, but that was tempered with a heart, that also like Riley's, was sometimes bigger and softer than he wanted to admit.

"So I had a mom and you had a Harry." Riley huffed, obviously frustrated. She closed the lid of her lap top with a snap, tossing the rig on the bed between them like a gauntlet. Mac knew she was pissed at her own feelings of uncertainty for what they had wholeheartedly been on board to do just the day before, but he pulled his legs in a little closer to his body just in case she blamed him for her own altruistic doubts in the face of having watched disappointment and hurt race across Jack's face after finding Dawn had indeed fled.

"I was talking about Jack." Mac pointed out softly, his gaze holding hers. "We both had Jack."

"And she doesn't? Or at least did?" Riley snapped. "That's why we're in here hatching a plot to be rid of her. She had Jack and treated him like crap. She wouldn't know a lucky break if it smacked her across the face. Which is so what I should have done when I had the chance." Riley seethed, her nails went back to her mouth and Mac knew her temper was past the point where she cared to ruin her expensive manicure.

"I don't know about you but I wasn't completely cognizant of how great Jack was in the beginning either. In fact, I didn't exactly welcome him as some kind of saving grace." Mac tried not to completely point out that he knew good and well that Riley herself had treated Jack more like a nuisance than any great gift the first time around, but he worried that he'd still struck a nerve when she sent another cold glare his way as if she were contemplating doling out the pounding she'd withheld from Dawn to him. Mac had always wanted siblings, but after having Riley for a pseudo sister for the last two years he wasn't so sure it would have been a picnic. He held up his hands to hold off her wrath.

"I'm just saying _I_ was an ass to Jack when we first met," Mac continued, sitting up a little straighter. "I mean he deserved some of it considering he punched me in the face and made fun of my name in front of the whole barracks the first time we met, but he quickly tried turning things around, changing his tune, even apologized for his off the cuff comments soon after."

Mac picked up the basketball, spinning it on his finger. He focused on the whirling Wilson instead of meeting Riley's intense gaze which he could still sense. "I continued to go out of my way to make things hard on him. I disobeyed orders, forcing him to cover for me. I took pot shots about him being a Neanderthal, along with great pleasure in pushing his other buttons, testing boundaries I guess. In Jack's words I was a cocky little shit who thought he knew everything."

"What changed?" Riley's voice had lost some of its hardness and she grabbed the basketball mid spin, bringing it close to her body so he couldn't steal it back without moving closer to her if he wanted to even attempt it. It was a move she had perfected during the two on two games they often played with Jack and Bozer. Mac knew from experience wrestling with her was futile. She was stronger and meaner than she looked. He had the memory of bruised ribs and kicked shins to prove it.

She smiled when he finally met her gaze. "I mean you're still a cocky little shit, but specifically what changed the part where you kept pushing Jack and testing the limits it would take to make him finally walk away."

Mac rolled his eyes at the blatant insult, but frowned at the other unintentional hidden jabs. Maybe he had been pushing Jack away and testing boundaries back then. He _might_ possibly still be guilty of doing it every now and then presently, always expecting his best friend to leave. He shoved the unwanted insights away and focused on giving Riley an answer. "You remember that unhelpful bit about me being afraid of heights that Jack revealed in our little trampoline adventure?"

"You mean when you reenacted the scene from Up and nearly got us killed? It will forever be etched in my memory." She tossed the ball back to him, harder than necessary. "I appreciate you saving our lives but I could have done without that Universal Theme Park movie ride thank you very much but the tidbit wasn't useless. Sometimes it's nice to be reminded Jack's golden boy isn't perfect."

"Hey." Mac caught the ball with a grunt, his mouth twitching. "I'm not the one that picked that movie for 'family flick night' last month. Once images get in my head, they're not so easily erased and I can't be held responsible if they find their way into my mental arsenal of interventions."

Riley snorted. "Remind me to never let you watch any of the SAW movies, and speaking of the horror genre, it was _Bozer_ in one of his rare Disney moods who actually picked _Up_ instead of choosing one of his typical films." Riley glanced at her computer before looking back to Mac. "After we finish destroying Dawn, we can get a little payback with him, too if you like. Maybe post Leanna's profile on Tinder."

"Would you please stop saying things like _hatching a plot of destruction_ and using words like _ultimate demise?_ We're the good guys." Mac hadn't been hard to sway by Riley's plan of action. In fact, he'd been the one to initiate the meeting of the minds after attempting to cheer up his partner with a night of pizza, beer and Bruce Willis only to have Jack jokingly claim he didn't think he'd be watching his buddy Bruce anytime soon. He was Dawn's favorite, too and the woman just might have ruined Die Hard for him forever. Mac had been blindsided by Jack's insistence they watch something no normal woman would ever enjoy, like one of Mac's robotic documentaries or Stepbrothers.

"Of course we are," Riley didn't look so sure. "I mean we're just protecting Jack from himself. We both know he's going to forgive her at the first bat of those big blue eyes. Forget flat screens and million dollar pay offs, next time the woman could take something more valuable."

"Jack." Mac nodded. He'd secretly feared the same thing, especially after Bozer had joked on their car ride about his partner running off with his con artist crush.

"At least my mom would be a good influence." Riley's voice had thickened and the brightness in her eyes when Mac lifted his gaze to hers was evidence she'd been thinking the same thing he had. As much as they both wanted Jack to be happy, Dawn posed a threat to their family. At least it seemed that way to the two of them, who as Riley had pointed out, didn't have the most pleasant of childhoods. Jack was a constant, and when you had never experienced much consistency or stability, a person who suddenly proves capable of offering such can be a little terrifying but also priceless. Mac could easily understand why Dawn gave the money to the girl's home if it was indeed the first place she'd found what Mac had discovered in Jack. A place to call home was worth any cost.

"Yeah, your mom would be great for Jack," Mac finally conceded with a bit of faked enthusiasm. He couldn't exactly pinpoint why but he wasn't a Team Diane fan, but suspected it had something to do with him believing the woman would not be exactly welcoming of any baggage in the form of a Jack's kid brother slash sometimes surrogate son. Mac would never voice that to Riley, not because he was a little afraid of her, but because he'd never want to hurt her. However as Riley pointed out, at least with Diane Jack wasn't likely to have to go on the lamb. Their relationship might change, but Jack wouldn't disappear completely.

"Hey." Riley nudged his knee. "You were going to tell me what changed between you and Jack."

"Right." Mac cleared his throat, tossing the ball from one hand to the other.

Riley watched him. "You don't have to talk about it if you…"

"No, it's fine." Mac cut her off. Most people steered clear of war stories once they had even a hint of what horrors might unfold in the retelling. He rarely was asked to share his experiences except for in the group at the VA led by one of Jack's old buddies. Mac visited every now and then when the demons started to rear their ugly heads. Even Bozer, who in the beginning had been determined to be a helpful sounding board, had quickly learned to gloss over or completely change the subject if certain aspects of Mac's service years inadvertently came up. Mac gave Riley a lopsided grin and a shrug as he stilled the ball by placing it in his lap once more. "Actually it was just a stupid act on my part, something that shouldn't have even been a dangerous scene."

"Angus MacGyver stumbling into a dangerous situation by accident or creating one by his mere presence?" Riley feigned incredulity. "I don't either of those scenarios for one second."

"Funny." Mac smirked, appreciating the fact she gave his leg another light punch before resting her elbows on her crossed knees and leaning in towards him a bit as if they were two kids exchanging stories around a campfire.

"Highly unbelievable or not, I want to hear."

"There's not much to tell." Mac drummed his fingers on the basketball, not quite able to keep his hands still. "Jack ordered me not to go into a building until he had a chance to clear it, I didn't listen. Instead I went ahead of him, while he chatted up one of the local street vendors. Up all eight floors to the roof where I thought I'd seen a flash of something when we were coming down the street. It was all the more reason for me not to go in alone, but as I said earlier, I didn't always have the best sense of self-preservation at that point in time."

Mac wouldn't even let himself think the word suicidal, but if he were completely honest, the months after Pena's death had left him disillusioned and defeated. He couldn't shake the feeling like he'd broken loose from his mooring, as if some crucial foundation had been cracked. At times he feared coming completely undone. Lost, and adrift from some original destination he couldn't even quite remember.

"Not like the healthy fear of risky situations that you've developed since then." Riley's snarky observation chased away his dark thoughts but he could see she was working hard on keeping her smile in place.

"Do you want to hear this or not?" They were stalling in making their decision whether to take down Dawn or not and they both knew it.

Riley gave him a nod, just as willing as Mac to continue their reuse. "Go on." She made a motion of locking her lips and tossing away the key.

"I didn't find anything IED like on the roof, but what I did quickly discover was that the entire structure was highly unstable. The providence we were in had sustained intense shelling years before and there was a reason that particular structure had been abandoned and never re-occupied." Mac traced his finger over the ridges in the basketball he held on his lap. His vision blurred as the faded lettering gave way to the gutted building he'd viewed all those years ago in the desert along with the looming floor he'd been able to see all too clearly from his precarious position hanging from an exposed piece of concrete. "I fell through the ceiling. The only thing that saved me was my jacket getting caught on some rubble."

"Wow. That sucks."

"It would have been a whole lot worse if Jack hadn't gotten to me as quickly as he did. Apparently I was screaming his name, along with a few other choice words in English, Pashto and Dari." Mac didn't really remember anything but calling for his partner. It was the first words out of his mouth when he could actually garner enough breath to speak. Call it reflex, but Mac believed he had instinctively called out to the one person he knew could be trusted to rescue him. His heart seemed to recognize Jack for what he was before Mac's superfast brain even had a chance to compute what had been happening over the initial weeks they'd worked together. Much like a bear cub separated from it's mother, the cry had been frantic and primal. "Of course he never let me forget it."

"Just like every other rescue since then." Riley's grin was more genuine now.

"Exactly." Mac ran a hand through his hair, forcing a laugh. Actually, Jack had responded that day like Mac imagined the Delta would have as well as acting completely unexpectedly. Once he'd pulled Mac from the clutches of near death, his Overwatch of course launched into his typical, ear-splitting rampage of a lecture. That was the Jack that Mac had come to know. But the older soldier had stopped just as quickly when he'd apparently gotten a good look at Mac's face.

Mac, who was shaking like a leaf from the adrenaline rush that had caused his heart to race painfully in his chest, could not slow his breath. The near death experience had left him sweaty and hyperventilating, made his tongue feel thick and useless, leaving him lacking in response when Jack repeatedly asked if he was okay. Mac couldn't even begin to explain the ingrained terror he held for heights. That came later. Mac could blame his biological responses on the surge of fight or flight hormone, but it really wasn't responsible for the tears he realized too late were betraying him by trailing down his cheeks. That was pent up anger and soul-shriveling grief, two emotions he typically did well in compartmentalizing, but which had been momentarily loosed by an encounter with raw terror. Dangerous animals sprung from their cages. Mac's well-constructed walls had been defenseless in the wake of a sudden brush with brutal fear.

"The man is insufferable," Riley sighed, bring Mac back to the present.

"He is," Mac took a deep breath, concentrating on the feel of it leaving his body, the fact his lungs ballooned and deflated on command. He shrugged. "But I figured saving my life repeatedly seemed like a pretty good reason to cut him some slack, and let's face it, once Jack decides he wants to be your friend, it's not like he gives you a lot of choice in the matter."

"Like I said, he's impossible." Riley agreed, but the fondness that shown in her eyes belied her words and exasperated tone.

"Totally." Mac nodded, also knowing that Jack was also kind, understanding and aside from Bozer, the best friend Mac had ever known. That day in Kabul, he'd not said anything about the fact Mac was a complete, blubbering wreck. Instead he'd merely pulled his obstinate EOD into a savage, bone crushing bear hug and promised, _swore_ actually, on his father's grave even, that everything was going to be okay, that he, Jack, had Mac's back and he'd be damned if he was going to let anything happen to him. Ever.

Back then Mac had surprised himself by desperately wanting to believe those words from a practical stranger. It was even more shocking when he'd not only clung to Jack like some scared kid but he'd latched onto Jack's promise like a life ring. Of course in logical Angus MacGyver fashion, he'd quickly withdrawn, doubting Jack's resolve even before he'd effectively untangled himself from the shelter of the older man's embrace and pulled his shit together. Even a few weeks later when Jack re-upped for another tour so he could keep an eye on the EOD, Mac hadn't truly understood the depth and meaning of that vow. No. That took years and a whole lot more last minute saves than Mac cared to recall. Maybe, it still hadn't settled in completely.

"I don't know why we bother." Riley huffed, reclaiming Mac's attention. She drew her knees to her chest, resting her chin atop them.

"Me neither," Mac agreed, emphatically.

Riley's mouth twitched. "So, are we ready to do this for the old man?"

Mac picked up the computer and handed it back to her. "Let's take her down, Riles."

"Just _what_ are you two doing?" Matty Weber's booming voice startled Mac and had Riley quickly snapping closed the lid of the laptop she'd just opened.

"Hey Matty." Mac tried for casual.

"Don't 'hey, Matty' me, Blondie." Their director propped her hands on her hips, the glower she leveled on Mac not quite as menacing as usual considering her eye was still slightly swollen and had gone from bright red and purple to a sickly yellow and green hue. "I thought you were coming to get the basketball so you could entertain your partner, Dalton, on the court and by entertain I mean get him out of my hair. His hovering is making me itch."

"I had to find my shoes." Mac said lamely, glancing at his sock covered feet and then showing her the ball as he attempted to scramble off the bed. He grabbed his old pair of Converse, not exactly ideal for basketball, but it gave him something to do to avoid Matty's penetrating stare as he wrestled them on. "But then Riley needed me."

"And where's that world class Pina Colada you promised me, missy?" Matty swung her suspicious gaze to Riley. Mac knew he'd pay later for throwing his teammate under the bus, probably fall victim to an illegal elbow jab to the side or an outright foul ball to the face. "The one you swore I'd never know was lacking rum considering our favorite nursemaid Bozer insists I follow the doctor's orders about not mixing alcohol with narcotics."

"Uh," Riley stammered, also scooting to the edge of the bed. "I was looking for the pineapple and coconut."

"In Baby Einstein's bedroom?" Matty glanced around the space, obviously not buying one word of what they were saying. "Although it's a bit like a hybrid flee market hardware store in here, I don't see a produce section."

"I sometimes hide the good fruit so Bozer doesn't use it all up in his breakfast smoothies." Mac looked at Riley who rolled her eyes at the lame cover. Maybe Mac should have taken some tutelage from Dawn in the cover story area when he'd had the chance.

"I see." Matty tilted her head in that way she had, watching them both. "So this has nothing to do with you two pulling some kind of Hayley Mills' _Parent Trap_ meets Sandra Bullock's _The Net_ scenario where instead of the cutesy kids scheming to get their parent's back together, you wonder twins get rid of daddy's girlfriend with the push of a button or should I say a stroke of a key."

"Who's Hayley Mills?" Mac asked, frowning.

"Never mind that, MacGyver," Matty snapped, pointing to Riley's rig. "Tell me you two aren't in here plotting Dawn's downfall. I can only do so much damage control and having my top operatives in prison is not exactly going to improve upon my already really crappy week."

"We didn't do anything illegal," Mac defended quickly.

"Yet," Riley added, folding her arms over her chest and actually giving Matty a defiant scowl as if daring her to try and stop them. He suddenly had a new empathy for Jack dealing with 'tween' Riley.

"Look. I get it. I really do." Matty took a few steps closer, bringing her directly in front of the bed where Mac and Riley now sat shoulder to shoulder. She turned towards the window as a guffaw that was undeniably Jack's echoed around the room and when she faced the duo once more her face had actually softened. Mac almost expected her to put a hand on each of their legs in a tender motherly fashion, a move that would have most likely freaked him out. "I love the big buffoon. Believe it or not he's one of my oldest and dearest friends, one of the few, especially after Julian, that I can still trust."

Mac studied his boss's face for any hint she was less than sincere. He cared for Matty, and after nearly losing her, wanted nothing more than to believe she was truly on the up and up and on their side one hundred percent. But Bozer's astute observation that they were surrounded by liars warred against those hopes.

"Then we should be on the same page." Riley gestured between them. "Mac and I are just looking out for Jack's best interests."

"Because you two love it so much when he tries to do the same thing for you?" Matty arched a smugly knowing brow. "If my memory serves me well, then I recall both of you pitching some pretty good tantrums when Dalton was guilty of looking out for your interests."

"You do have a concussion," Mac pointed out, curtly knowing he was bordering on insubordination. When Matty only continued to stare at him he lifted his hands in surrender, capitulating. Jack was right about gathering more flies with honey. "Alright, so we don't always appreciate Jack's meddling."

"Or when he treats us like we're twelve instead of being in our twenties," Riley interjected and Mac watched Matty's mouth twitch. He suspected she was getting a good chuckle on the inside at their expense. He wouldn't put it past her to discuss the situation with Jack in some clandestine parent-like bonding after the kiddos were tucked into bed. Riley, however didn't seem to notice and went on undaunted. "But in the end we never fail to understand that whatever incredibly stupid thing he does and no matter how big of an ass he is in the process, he does it because he cares about us."

"Jack's heart sometimes causes him to act foolishly," Mac added, watching Matty. "But it's always in the right place."

"Jack's heart isn't in question here, Blondie. It's his brain and other organs that get him into trouble." This time in Matty did put her hand on his knee. And although it was completely uncharacteristic and obviously driven by the amount of painkillers his boss had taken, it didn't bother Mac as much as he imagined it might. She continued to stare at him specifically as if he were the one truly having trouble hearing what she was saying. "I know he's your partner, but I've known him longer than you. He was never the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to women. He's turned down some good things in his time. I know because I was there for a few of his missed opportunities."

Mac glanced a bit nervously at Riley wondering if she was thinking the same thing. She looked as if she might have just thrown up in her mouth a little so he assumed she too was envisioning the image of his partner and their boss engaged in an unprofessional manner. It was almost as bad as walking in on your parents Saturday morning wrestling match. You couldn't un-see it.

"I'm talking about Sarah." Matty snapped sternly, as if she could read their dirty little minds. She quickly removed her touch form Mac and took a step back, seeming to come back to herself. "The woman was perfect for him and obviously blind to his many numerous flaws. Jack should have married her years ago when he had the chance. He'd be wrangling a whole herd of little Daltons by now instead of helicopter parenting you two special snowflakes."

"Also," Matty continued on, her voice growing a bit shrill. "I wouldn't have the daily pleasure of playing his work wife, which is a task I never signed on for considering I am anything but Carolyn Brady material. You don't want to know what other advice I have to dole out on a regular basis to that overgrown child besides the obvious fashion faux pas that is. I won't even try and explain Bozer's place in this make-shift, mixed-up family he's fathered because as you pointed out I have a concussion and my head hurts. All I really want is my Pina Colada and for no more felonies to be committed on my watch. Is that really too much to ask?" By the time her rant was finished, Matty's voice was high pitched, as close to a pleading whine as Mac had ever heard from the woman. He once more blamed the drugs for her rare display of vulnerability and quickly saw the wisdom in Bozer reinforcing the no alcohol rule.

"No, mam." Riley quickly responded.

"Definitely not too much to ask." Mac gave an affirmative nod that he concurred.

"Good, then it's settled." Matty folded her arms over her chest, looking more like her large and in charge self. "We'll let Dawn rabbit this time and if she shows her perky blond head again, then we'll send her off to the same deserted island where Jack banished Nikki."

"What?" Mac asked and felt a little bit betrayed when Riley giggled. Unlike his experience with brothers, it was obvious that little sisters could not be trusted.

"Gotcha, Baby Einstein." Matty grinned, only adding to Mac's concerns about his director's loyalty as well as her tolerance for narcotics.

Mac didn't even bother to finish tying his Converse before standing. He grabbed the basketball, giving first Riley then Matty a narrowed glower. "Just for that I'm not telling either of you where the pineapple and cocunut is hidden."

He heard the women's laughter as he made a hasty retreat, only stopping to grab two bottles of water on his way to the deck doors. When he stepped outside, he caught sight of Bozer at the grill, Jill at his side, both engaged in what appeared to be a hearty conversation over seasoning. Jack was squatted near the fire pit, stacking wood. Mac whistled, instantly bringing his partner's gaze to him.

"Come on, old man," Mac lifted the basketball in the air with his free hand. "We're losing daylight."

"And whose fault is that?" Jack jogged over, grabbing the ball from Mac as he passed. "Did you have to have Matty and Riley help you hunt for your shoes?"

"I'm capable of finding my own shoes." Mac used a Riley move, elbowing the older man in the ribs as he managed to be the first outside. After coming back from Afghanistan they'd spent many nights on the old ball court, the one Mac's grandfather had put in for him when he was just a kid, and it always had the magic to somehow put a shitty day or week into perspective. Mac supposed it worked partly because of the physical activity, but mostly because of the company.

"You might should have asked for some help considering the ones you chose." Jack dribbled past him, purposively giving the beat up Cons that Mac had bent to tie a questioning glance.

"I thought you old guys played in these back in the day." Mac grinned, moving the bottles of water he'd brought out of their way before stealing the ball and making the first shot of the night.

Jack took the rebound, with a smirk, used to their typical warm up routine of trash talk and horsing around. "We played in those damn flat-footed things because that's all us 'old guys' had back in the day. I'd suggest going with something a little more aerodynamic and at least a shoe with some semblance of an arch support these days."

"Anything's better than playing in combat boots like we did in Kabul." Mac countered, watching Jack's attempted shot bounce off the rim.

"You've got me there, brother." Jack passed him the ball with a telling grin. "This old ball faired the sandbox a hell of lot better than my poor feet."

Mac spun the ball in question, remembering the day Jack traded a pack of his precious gum, two chocolate bars and a cigarette lighter to a kid for it and the air pump the boy had gotten in a Samaritan's Purse Shoe Box. "Speaking of things that stink, you heard any more on the Dawn front?"

"Not a peep." Jack slapped the ball out of Mac's hand, dribbling it in for a light layup. He'd been extremely tight-lipped about their failed search after the first few days. Mac recognized it as the tactic his best friend had employed after Sarah's wedding and it made him want to reconsider his and Riley's plan of attack.

"But then again," Jack continued. "I didn't hear from her last time she was living five minutes from my place so I don't rightly expect this time to be any different considering the recent crime spree and Riley thinks she may have skipped the country."

"You don't sound so sure." Mac grabbed the rebound, bouncing it a few times before taking a lazy jump shot that came up short. He watched Jack chase the ball down. "Is there a reason for that or just one of your Spidey sense things?"

"I got the impression moving on wasn't really what Dawn wanted." Jack recovered the ball and was dribbling it in front of him then around his back in the showy way he liked. He bobbed his eyebrows as if Mac were being treated to a personal viewing of the Globetrotters. Mac didn't mind his partner's showy antics as much when they were playing one on one as he did when they were teamed up against Bozer and Riley because inevitably Jack would lose the ball and Mac played to win. Jack moved in closer, did a pivot and a spin around Mac. "In fact, I thought she might be itching to settle down, plant some roots here in LA," he said.

"We're you hoping to supply her a patch of ground on which to do that?" Mac tried and failed to steal the ball, his partner giving him a good-natured bump and goofy grin as he turned and shot, getting nothing but net.

"It's a weird metaphor, Farmer Dale, but maybe." Jack wiped the back of his hand over his forehead, already breaking a sweat. "I'm sure you think this old hay seed was getting a little bit ahead of himself. Counting his crop before the first row was even tilled and all."

Mac shook his head, dribbling around Jack. "I didn't think anything of the sort. If my partner wants to count his crops in the barn before the harvest who am I to rain on his field."

"I know you're a city boy, but rain's actually a good thing when you're hoping for a mighty yield, bud." Jack tried to block Mac's run at the goal, extending his arms wide and doing a silly little slide from side to side. "You sure you and Riley weren't maybe hoping for a drought, possibly a plague or swarm of locusts?"

"You think we wanted to be right about Dawn?" Mac stopped practically mid jump shot, catching the ball between both his hands. He stared at Jack. "That we're glad you got hurt?"

"Come on now," Jack lifted the bottom of his shirt, wiping his eyes with it. "I didn't mean to imply that either of you were particularly happy about how things worked out, only that you might have been exchanging a few more 'I told you so's' behind my back. And I'm not hurt."

Mac wasn't about to tell his partner what he and Riley had actually been doing so he charged around him instead, intent on dunking a perfect basket. His plan went just fine and the satisfaction of grabbing the rim and hanging suspended in the air free from the forces of gravity if only for just a second had been particularly satisfying. Only a basketball and a trampoline weren't the only things restrained by Newton and his stupid laws. Mac came hurdling back to the earth with considerable force. It was a move he'd performed many times before but not typically in crappy shoes with little support. His right ankle rolled and he went down hard.

"Shit." He swore, the sudden pain providing a spark of stars that had nothing to do with the ones starting to appear overhead. He rolled over, the pavement rough through the worn MIT tee he was wearing. The first thing he became aware of through the blinding pain was Jack's grip on his shoulder, his grounding presence by Mac's side.

"Hey, bud, you okay?"

"It's okay." Mac ground out through clenched teeth as he managed to catch his breath and shove himself to sitting. He gingerly stretched his legs out, glancing to Jack. His partner was studying him with a very familiar, intense concentration, lines of worry wrinkling his brow. "I'm fine."

"Sure you are." Jack nodded, giving his trademark reassuring smile.

Sometimes Mac was certain Jack had his face memorized, a complete visual landscape on mental file just like all the dials and panels of a plane's cockpit, so like the expert pilot he was he'd be hyper aware if even the slightest thing was off with Mac, alert to any alarming change or signs of damning malfunction.

"You've had a problem with decent landings this week, kiddo." Jack's gaze went from Mac's face to the ankle Mac had pulled closer, his hands hovering over it.

"I can't control gravity, Jack!" Mac glowered at his partner. Now was not the time to be talking about the stupid trampoline incident yet again and the throbbing echoing through Mac's lower leg was making his patience for teasing extremely short.

"Easy now. I'm not pointing fingers. I don't need to be a science nerd to know that somethings are impossible for even a genius like you." Jack was using his soothing voice, the one Mac always associated with him being hurt and spooked horses. His partner was already making his way towards Mac's ankle. The fact that Mac didn't jerk it away when Jack put his hands on him was a testament to both Jack's _Angus-whispering_ ability and Mac's innate sense of trust when it came to his best friend. Jack rolled the ball towards him, using it as a seat as he leaned over to get a better look. "You turned it pretty good, huh?"

"It's fine, Jack. I just need a minute."

"The doctor will be the judge of that." Jack's touch was gentle as he took Mac's foot and settled it on his knee. Mac leaned back, the concrete digging into his palms as he tried to breathe through the pain that told him that maybe he wasn't completely alright.

"Applying liniment and wrapping fetlocks doesn't make you experienced in judging human sport's injuries, Jack."

"Did you know that a horse's fetlock is actually like the ball of our foot," Jack started, not taking his eyes from Mac's foot. Instead he worked at untying the lace and gently slid the shoe off.

Mac grit his teeth, despite the care Jack was taking. "I did know that, just like I know a horse doesn't have muscles past its knee and that the hock joint is the equivalent of the human ankle."

Jack gave an infuriating grin. "I forgot you read all those books JP lent you on that first trip to the farm."

"It wasn't like I had a choice. The old man gave me a written exam." Mac reached up and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. He wasn't sure if he was hot or had broken out in a cold sweat. "I know more about horses than I ever hoped to thanks to your tyrant of a grandfather."

"Me too, bud." Jack gently prodded the area around Mac's ankle bone, frowning. "Nothing seems broken, but as you pointed out, tending to horses doesn't make me an authority on the human body, unless you count my vast knowledge of the female anatomy that is." Jack looked up finally, winking at Mac. Mac rolled his eyes at the well-honed humor tactic meant to distract him. Even Jack's southern accent was thicker, adding to the show. "That's why when I said we'd default to a physician's call, I was talking about Doc Carl. I invited him and Sally to Matty's party."

"What? Why would you do that?" Mac knew he probably sounded all of thirteen in that moment, his voice almost as shrill as Matty's had been earlier. He liked their medical colleagues, he did. Really. Even the evil Nurse Sally was nice when Mac was in perfect health and not needing any of her services. But it wasn't typical for them to be invited over for a 'family' event at Mac's house. Leave it to Jack to have some kind of premonition that their services would be required.

"Because their our friends and if you must know, I figured it would give us a chance to turn the tables on Matty the Hun for all the times she let them loose on us when we've been banged up." Jack gave a shrug. "I thought you'd get a kick out of it seeing as how they're typically all over you like blood hounds on a fox hunt. Watching Matty get a taste of her own medicine was supposed to be a nice surprise. How was I to know my klutzy partner was going to try to pull a LeBron James move in sucky shoes?"

"I think my jam's more akin to DeAndre Jordan's thank you very much." Mac pulled his foot away from Jack. Getting up and working out the kinks so he would have no sign of a limp by the time his unexpected guests arrived gave him new motivation to be off the ground. He did allow Jack to assist, taking his partner's hand when the older man offered it with a knowing shake of his head. Mac met the other man's gaze. "And just so you know, I'm beginning to think me getting revenge never works out in my favor."

"So, should I take that to mean that your and Riley's plan to put out some kind of hacker hit on Dawn didn't work out so well?" Once Mac was balanced on one foot, Jack bent to grab his discarded shoe. "Matty reel you in?"

"You knew about that?" Mac grimaced as much from his attempts to put weight on the lame ankle as Jack figuring out what he and Riley had in mind.

"Dude, I know you. And Riley." Jack handed Mac his shoe, stepping in closer to pull Mac's free arm over his shoulder. He slid his other hand around Mac's waist before Mac could even utter a protest. It was a classic Jack move, one which would have typically elicited Mac's insistence he could walk the short distance just fine on his own but under the circumstances Mac didn't want to do anything that might make his ankle worse, not with Sally set to be on property.

"Besides," Jack continued prattling on as they started to make their way back towards the house. "It wasn't a stretch when you two began exchanging sneaky glances and whispering. My old man used to say any parent outnumbered by their kids should constantly be watching their back sort of like a well-hated general in case of an unholy alliance between the troops. The enemy of my enemy principal and all."

"If we were planning something mutinous and I'm not saying we were, it wasn't because we saw you as some common enemy, man." Mac allowed his partner to take some of his weight as 'walking off' the pain wasn't exactly panning out. He shook his head at his luck. The sooner they got to the house and iced his foot the better. He sneaked a peek at Jack who was carefully watching their path in the growing darkness. "In fact, it was the opposite," he added, quietly.

"Dawn's not the villain here either, bud." Jack's joking tone faded.

"That's not exactly true." Mac chanced a bolder sidelong glance to his best friend. "She played you, Jack; she played all of us."

"Well now, you can't exactly expect to hand the wily old fox a key to the chicken coop and not have a few hens go missing."

"Seriously?" Mac drew up short, also abruptly stopping Jack's forward momentum. He pulled away from his partner, touching his sock covered toes to the ground to keep from tipping over. "You're really willing to give her another break? The benefit of the doubt? This wasn't a flat screen, Jack. It was a million dollars."

"Which we got back, brother." Jack propped his hands on his hips, looking confused as to why Mac was suddenly angry. His partner's nonchalance in the face of Dawn's crime only resorted in more ire on Mac's part.

"Only because _we_ tracked it down and had to take it away from a bunch of orphans." Mac still felt a bit slimy, like a story book scrooge, even if the director of the institution had been kind and understanding, even gracious about the whole matter.

"Hey, I wanted to let Dawn's Daddy Warbucks move slide, but you and Matty…"

"Daddy Warbuck's was a legitimate millionaire, not a thief," Mac cut his partner off with an indignant huff. "It was _his_ money to give away. Dawn's act of charity was more akin to clever money laundering."

"Dude, we both know she wasn't going to come sniffing around to get that money back. She's as sweet…"

"If you compare her to some high caloric confection we might have at Nana Beth's or worse say her heart was in the right place, I might punch you." Mac took a breath, raking a hand through his hair. His hurting foot wasn't making it any easier to keep his emotions in check, especially when his hard headed partner was being so…hard headed. "It's _your_ heart you should be concerned with, Jack."

"Last time I checked my ticker was still ticking along just fine, kiddo." Jack actually gave him a look of understanding, the realization that Mac was pissed on his behalf seeming to sink in. "Do you really think some bad romance is going to send me over the edge after all we've been through together. Hell, I'm a Cowboy's fan, and I watched Sarah's wedding with a dry eye."

Mac folded his arms over his chest, narrowing his gaze in an attempt to keep his partner honest.

"Fine," Jack grunted. "I almost kept a dry eye. And I know I might have shed a few tears into my beer afterwards, putting you through more than your fair share of buddy-sitting duty during the weeks that followed. But we both know if I can endure the heartbreak of defeat for my favorite football team year after year and see Sarah hitched to 'whathisface' and not lose my shit then I can manage Dawn's most recent insensitive dis. After all, I am a big boy."

" _My_ being a grown man has never stopped you in meddling in my affairs or being concerned about my self-preservation around certain women." In fact, Mac was certain Jack sometimes still saw him as the same nineteen year old kid he'd been when they'd first met. Initial impressions were lasting, but that didn't mean they were supposed to freeze time and skew reality.

"Did you forget that I'm practically a whole century older than you? That makes me a might more experienced in matters of the heart. And Dawn might have stolen my TV and made off with a cool mil but she sure as hell didn't take a deadly virus, shoot me and let me think she was dead."

Mac sighed, knowing he only had himself to blame for resurrecting the horse which Jack was currently beating. "Nikki didn't pull the trigger and she had a reason for what she was doing. One that wasn't self-serving yet you weren't exactly willing to give her a second chance." Mac understood he was possibly reaching in drawing parallels between the two situations but felt justified in the point he was making just the same.

"What are you talking about?" Jack didn't seem to agree. He lifted his hands in obvious frustration. "I didn't kill her, did I? Nikki's still upright and breathing air. After what I went through with you those months after Lake Como I'd consider me more than generous in the clemency department. Honestly, if the bitch were anyone else, she'd be dead and we both know it."

"I'm not sure shipwrecking her on a deserted island is showing mercy," Mac muttered. He was fairly certain Matty was joking earlier about his ex-girlfriend's fate and Jack's hand in it, but he wouldn't put it past his partner to do something desperate. After all, he and Riley were about to dole out a very similar sentence to Dawn...

"Again, what are you talking about?" Jack asked.

Mac shook his head, answering his best friend's question with one of his own. "Just explain to me how you can be so cautious when it comes to me and Riley and who we allow to get close to us and yet so reckless and irresponsible when it comes to the people you let in to your life?"

"Mac, I'm a lot of things but I am rarely foolhardy or freewheeling when it comes to who I bring into my life. To tell you the truth, I'm actually damn heedful of what I'm doing when I decide to care about someone because I know it's not something I can just turn off at the drop of a hat. I'm not wired that way. It's just not who I am."

"Not even when the person doesn't deserves it?"

"Dude, what the hell does caring about someone have to do with merit?" When Mac didn't answer right away, Jack ran a hand down his mouth, obviously frustrated at his partner's inability to parrot back the appropriate response, almost as if they had gone round and round the exact conversation before with no resolution. To Mac's knowledge they hadn't. At least not specifically. But if he were completely truthful, if he listened to that little niggling voice deep inside, he might have admitted it possible that it had been a one-sided discussion on Jack Dalton's part, a lesson his partner had been actively engaged in imparting for years, but one Mac still hadn't absorbed.

Jack reached out and gripped Mac's shoulder, giving him a little shake. "Listen to me, bud. Love's not some reward for always doing the right thing. Alright. It's not a blue ribbon, or a fucking gold star. It's not something you withhold when someone's not toeing the line, and it sure as hell isn't something you take away because a body messes up in a bad way. Love, the _real_ kind, not the screwed up selfish version, isn't risky at all. In fact, it's the investment a man knows he can count on coming through when everything else is lost."

So Jack might not have spoken those exact words before, but Mac still recognized them, like a lecture he'd sat through while focused on another subject. They had somehow been imprinted on him without his direct knowledge or accpetance. Maybe he'd been indoctrinated by all the talks Jack had given about Mac offering his father another chance because the meaning rang similar, as did the stories of Jack's own father, and the way they'd found their way back to one other before cancer took him. Or maybe it was just because the words not only suited Jack, but actually fit him. A word picture that resonated perfectly with everything the older man had done for Mac in the years they'd been friends, from that first memorable rescue in Kabul to the way he'd kept Mac from panicking when their balloon escape had gone haywire the previous week. Jack's explanation was more about _who_ he was, than why he'd cut Dawn so much slack. Mac could not, _would_ not, ever change that.

When he'd known the silence between them had gone on too long, that Jack was probably worrying he'd said the wrong thing, poked at some unseen wound, Mac cleared his voice, forcing what he hoped was a cocky smirk. "Why does that little speech sound like something your Nana Beth would recite to her Sunday School class?"

"I don't know, smartass." Jack laughed, his relief palpable. "Probably because I'm sure parts of it may be written in the Bible somewhere. Nana says it's the greatest love story of all time after all."

"I wouldn't know." Mac responded, seriously. "I haven't finished it entirely."

Jack gave him another slight shake and let him go. "Well, brother, maybe you should have picked up a copy of The Good Book at the ranch back when you were reading all that horse literature. Trust me when I say there's a copy in every room, including the old out house that no one uses anymore. The Gideon's ain't got nothing on Nana Beth."

Mac grinned, thinking about the New Testament he once found hidden away in the cookie jar at Jack's grandparents' place. "Maybe Nana should give pop quizzes. I might have been more motivated."

"You do like your gold stars." Jack smirked.

Mac licked his lips, glancing to the sky which was almost completely dark now. Merit could become really important when unconditional love seemed scarce. When he met Jack's gaze again, he shrugged. "They don't mean so much anymore."

"Still, Sally should start handing those babies out at her exams. You might be a more astute patient." Jack gestured to Mac's ankle. "I bet I could talk her into giving you one after she takes care of that foot."

"How about I just ice it, you wrap it for me before she shows and we not find out." Mac shot his partner a patented pleading look he knew his partner would not deny. "If we play our cards right, she'll be so consumed over the idea that Matty might have taken too much pain medicine that she won't even notice me."

"And why should I show such kindness and compassion to the kid who's constantly taking pot shots at my age and calls my wisdom with women into constant judgment?"

"Because that's who you are." Dawn might not have understood but Mac was a lot smarter. A million dollars was nothing really, not when she'd missed out on a one of the kind of payoff. Sure it would have maybe been riskier to stay, but leaving was completely reckless on her part. Mac lifted a brow at his best friend, adding, "And I probably don't deserve it."

"That's a good answer." Jack laughed, reaching out to place Mac's arm over his shoulder once more. He started them moving again, glancing to the younger man. "But you're wrong, bud. You deserve a whole hell of lot more."

The End…for now.


End file.
